Classrooms as Safe Places To Be Wrong.

This paper contends that classrooms should be safe places for students and their teachers to be wrong, suggesting that this concept should provide the mainspring for educational reform in Hong Kong and in other places in the world. It notes that education in Hong Kong is harsh and has a tendency to label students; for the majority of students, this labeling is very negative. The paper explains how error correction can be beneficial to a student's education. It begins by examining three reasons why classrooms should be safe places to be wrong. The first, Karl Popper's falsificationism, is philosophical and draws on the philosophy of science. The second, Gerald Edelman's theory on neuronal group selection, is psychological or neurophysiological and concerns the physical workings of the human mind. The third, a vision of education, is educational. The paper concludes that whatever methods teachers may use, they should always ensure that their classrooms are safe places for themselves and their students to be wrong and to learn from their errors. (SM)